The History of Diving Museum (HDM) held a night of Grateful Dead music at Safe Harbor Angler House in Islamorada on Feb. 8. The Dive Into Art & Music event supported student artists in the Keys.
The concert honored the late artist, musician and passionate diver Jerry Garcia, with Rainbow Full of Sound performing songs from the Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin and others of the era.The event included a raffle pull for one of Garcia’s giclée prints with certificates of authenticity signed by his wife Manasha and daughter Keelin.
This year’s piece — The Bathers — was a black and white ink with swimmers enjoying the water. The artwork was surrounded by a custom hand-painted watercolor matte frame depicting the Grateful Dead’s iconic bear mascots with fishing poles or in swim and dive gear, created by Diane Whitney Smith of the Art Guild of the Purple Isles. Eric Daniels was the winner of the piece.
HDM noted art contributions from the Jerry Garcia Foundation. Other pieces of Garcia’s art are at the museum, in the Bauer Diving History Research Library.
Grateful Diver traveled from Key West for the event to see the show and offered merchandise, such as Grateful Dead-inspired shirts and rash guards, with proceeds benefiting Dive Into Art.
The museum has creative displays made by these students, as well as by the Art Guild of the Purple Isles, in the Fintastic Fish of Florida featured exhibit through April 16.
